thomas raith is too pretty to die (priestofbowflex) wrote in thedoorway, @ 2013-03-01 07:36:00 |
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Contrary to what Thomas had told Elaine over the network, he hadn't started drinking just yet. Glenlivet was meant to be drunk socially, and besides, Thomas had a feeling that Elaine was going to need it more than he did, what with all the stair-climbing. That, and the very real possibility that Harry had been sent back, and sent back to a place and time where he'll be killed under his own orders. Of course, it could also very well be that Harry was indeed just out doing his normal Save the Damsel in Distress thing. It was just unusual for him to be incommunicado for that long. Unless he was dead again. When it came to Harry Dresden, it was always hard to tell. Either way, it was going to be a long night - either of waiting or of greeting. Thomas got the glasses ready and waited for the knock. Elaine spent the entire run down the stairs hoping Harry was just off doing his saving the girl routine. But she couldn’t fool herself to believe it as she padded to a stop outside Thomas’ door. She knocked - exhausted but not a hair out of place. Despite herself she had no desire to look mussed around Thomas. He was a bad influence. Or a good one depending on the day. She was breathing heavy, and aching - her knees would protest in the morning. She had read about Harry’s future and she wasn’t loving it. Course she’d never admit that. So she sighed as she stood at Thomas’ door and ran her nails through her hair and smiled. “Did you really start without me?” she asked with a tilt of her head. Elaine smelled of Summer with a hint of sweat (you run up and down a ton of stairs and NOT sweat she thought), and a hint of lilac - she always carried at least two of those scents with her wherever she went. Thomas, on the other hand, always smelled good even without any scents. Part of the perks of being a White Court vampire, and all the better to seduce people with. Not that he wanted to seduce Elaine; Summer’s children were sweet, but they gave him a sugar headache (the same way Winter’s gave him the equivalent of an ice cream headache). Elaine, while not fully Faerie, was potent still enough for him to avoid on principle. Besides, she was his brother’s first love. That was just not cool. It wasn’t as if he could simply turn off his powers, though, nor his predatory instinct. The demon inside him noticed that she was tired from all the stairs now, and she wouldn’t be able to run as fast as she normally would if he decided to pounce. Of course, once he turned on his power, she wouldn’t want to run. He was hungrier than he’d thought. Still, he had no intention of going into diabetic shock from sucking on one of Summer’s servants. Drinking was the smarter way to go. “A few more minutes and I would’ve,” he told her with a smirk as he headed to the kitchen. “But lucky for you, I decided to be a gentleman tonight.” Just not enough to get off his ass and go up to Harry’s apartment himself. Elaine had practically sold herself to Summer after the whole Harry flambéing Justin thing. And despite what people thought she was pretty sure she was still Summer’s creature. Helping solve one murder, albeit a high profile one for the Courts, did not absolve literal years of safety. She wasn’t dumb enough to even think that. Ever. She had resigned herself to carrying it with her forever. She was glad he wasn’t laying on the come hither - she wasn’t sure in her current state she’d be able to walk away and tell him to screw off. As long as he kept it on a leash she wasn’t going to end up doing something she’d regret in the morning. He was Harry’s brother after all - that’s levels of ick! “Sorry. Ran my legs off getting there and back.” she said with a smirk. “Jerk.” she teased, though. She didn’t mind. Much. She closed the door behind her and kicked off her shoes, setting them by the door. Thomas tsked as he went over to the whiskey and started pouring generous portions. “Be nice to the guy who’s giving you whiskey,” he chided. Nevermind that he’d just made her run up however many floors to check on his brother. Once the drinks were poured, he handed her a glass. “What’d you tell him in the note?” he asked. She took the glass gladly and gave him a look. you know the one that read both amusement and displeasure in one glance. “Don’t you tsk at me, Thomas.” she said with a curled lip but it didn’t last long. She lifted the glass to her lip and took a sip, savoring it. It was delicious and burned like any good whiskey should. “Oh nothing major - just “Hey. It’s Elaine. We haven’t heard from you in a little bit. You alive? You better be.” blah blah blah so on and so forth.” she said with a smirk. She took another sip and looked up at him. Suddenly thinking, maybe drinking with the White Court vampire WASNT the smartest plan in her book. But instead of listening to her wiser self she just took another drink of the whiskey. The worst that was going to happen between them was a snark filled night, after all. She could use the snark. It was refreshing, really. "Mm. Better it come from you than from me." Thomas lifted his glass at her. A note like that from him would've gotten him no end of teasing from Dresden. Then again, he would never have left that kind of note in the first place. The light banter disguised his worry over his brother. For all their differences, Harry was the only family member that Thomas actually liked, and he'd really rather not have to lose him to the Winter Court, which was the most likely scenario if he got sent back. "We need to put some kind of bell on him," he said contemplatively. "You know, something that'll tell us if he's around. You got a magical version of that?" She laughed wickedly - a delightful sound and something she hadn’t heard from her own lips in a long time. “Actually I do have something of the ilk. Truly it would be a smart idea - magical tracking bracelet - like they give to the criminals who are on house arrest.” she grinned and worked on the Whiskey. She was worried too - which is probably the only reason she was here. “I think we can manage a tracking system for Harry. Although he’s a slippery fish on the best of days.” she laughed softly and dropped into a chair. “Seriously. Despite being utterly predictable in his actions he can be soooo hard to find.” "Normally I wouldn't care," Thomas drawled, leaning against the counter. Despite the messiness of the surface, he managed to look like he ought to be on the cover of a home decor magazine. "But with the way he keeps attracting trouble..." He shrugged. "Seems like something that'll be good to know." She laughed at him and shook her head. “You care. Don’t cover the truth with your charm. You care about how he is.” she grinned wickedly and sipped her whiskey, looking at him over her glass. “but he certainly draws trouble like a magnet.” she mused as she looked around the place. Thomas was an enigma. She never really interacted with him back home - only once and awhile did they cross paths - and she found him curious. Dangerous but curious. The place was decorated simply - Thomas’s allowance didn’t allow for the extravagances he was used to - and while it was neater than how Thomas would’ve kept his own apartment, there were still clothes scattered around. Thomas made an effort to clean up after himself just out of respect for his roommate, who was a decent guy if a bit of a stickler for things like not having empty pizza boxes lying around on the floor where people might step on them, but he just wasn’t used to the whole cleaning up after himself thing. At least he was putting dirty cups and dishes in the sink now, instead of just letting them lie around. Not that he was quite ready to put his current glass away yet. There was still whiskey to drink. “Yeah, well, don’t make that public,” he said drily. “People find out I actually care about him, I get dragged into his problems.” Not that he didn’t already. She laughed a bit as she swirled the remaining whiskey in her glass. His apartment was not what she expected but it wasn’t as bad as it could be either. Elaine was, for all intents and purposes, rather fastidious. She liked being clean and orderly. Although a little mess was nice - she liked order. She was zen to the very core. “Who am I going to tell, Thomas?” she snarked. “I have Molly and TJ and Jason - that’s it here, and you. You and I aren’t exactly close - but I’m not about to go air your little secrets either.” she smiled at him. “Besides. Don’t you end up coerced into his troubles anyways?” “What can I say? I’m a sucker for rescuing wizards in distress,” Thomas said drily. “Especially if they happen to be obnoxious and stubborn.” He’d finished his whiskey by now, and seeing that she was running low, he lifted the bottle in a silent question. Elaine was old enough to know how much she should or should not drink, especially around a White Court vampire, he figured. It wasn’t his job to watch that she stay functional. Elaine smirked at his tone and shook her head. “You really are a sucker, Thomas. It’s fun to watch you and him go at it verbally, and then he tell you off or something and watch you save his ass anyways.” there may be a tiny tone of wistfulness there - her only ‘sibling’ had been Harry - and they weren’t exactly like brother and sister. She longed for family but she’d never had a stable relationship let alone connected to anyone as family. She figured one more glass, nursed, wouldn’t let her get too far into drunk land to risk her time here with the White Court. After the party with TJ she knew exactly how much it took for her to get too lovey-too touchy feely. And that hit about drink four or five - the urge to be touchy flirty that is. She held up her glass for him to refill. “So. you enjoying your time here so far? How are things working out?” she gestured with her free hand, indicating that she was talking about him and his Demon. She was honestly curious. Thomas obligingly splashed a generous portion into her glass before refilling his. He didn't have to worry about getting drunk like she did; what kind if predator would he be if he got drunk like any other prey? Her question had his expression closing over - not that he'd been very open in the first place. Like she'd said, his charm masked a lot. When it came to his Demon, he tended to not even bother with that. He didn't like to talk about it at all, especially to someone he didn't know well. He rarely spoke of it to even Harry. "Fine," he said with a shrug. "As I told Harry, I'm not killing." “Well that’s pretty obvious.” she quipped as she drank another sip. Elaine opened and got more blatant with her questions and curiosity when she was tipsy. She didn’t mean to. It was just part of her nature. Which is why she never drank in NeverNever. Bad idea that one. “I’m glad things are going well enough here - it could be worse. Do take care of yourself, though, I don’t think I’d like to see Harry upset over you being stressed or anything.” she said looking up at him. She wasn’t one to care TOO much about being blocked in a line of questions. She didn’t hold it against him. She just wanted him to be okay here, too. “I know it’s rather nice to have multiple people here I know.” she mused as she took another sip. “Although I feel the fourth wheel now.” she shrugged a bit. Thomas smirked at her priorities. "Oh no, I wouldn't possibly want to get stressed and upset Harry." Speaking of, he glanced in the direction of her phone, just in case Harry decided to call at that moment. Nope. Onwards, then. "A fourth wheel's good,” he reminded her. "Cars need 'em." She rolled her eyes at him. “A stressed and upset Harry is a handful. And he already IS a handful.” she too looked down at her phone, hoping it’d ring. But it was silent. “But I am however NOT a car.” she returned the jab and smirked. “And neither are the whole of us a car. If we were we’d be part Blue Beetle, Part - whatever you are driving these years - part ancient army jeep. It’d be a mess.” she grinned a bit “Although I suppose you’d make it look good anyways.” Thomas’s lips curved up in a wolfish smile. “I make everything look good,” he said. He didn’t even have to make it a boast; it was just a statement of fact, and it was true. There was something, of course, behind her remark about the fourth wheels, even if Thomas stood by his smartass comment. “Anyway, don’t you and Molly have that detective thing going on? Can’t be left out of that.” She rolled her eyes. “Don’t go thinking that you’re God’s gift to humankind.” she teased, but she agreed. He really did make everything look good. Without trying half the time. Bastard. She couldn’t help but be a bit jealous. “We do, although things have slowed down since Harry got here - she’s been preoccupied.” she acknowledged with a slow shrug. “It’s kind of weird - being part of the group but not at the same time.” Now Thomas smirked outright. "My gift to humankind has nothing to do with God." Yeah, so he was a monster, but at least he had a sense of humour about it. "And I find that things grind to a halt when Harry's around anyway," he continued. "Things you'd been doing on your own, anyway. His crises tend to be the Drop Everything And Help Or The World's Going to End type. And he calls me the attention hog." She laughed softly. “Mmm I know that. You are too much sometimes.” she shook her head at him and finished off half her glass and looked up slowly. The world was beginning to get fuzzy and comfy - it was a nice feeling. “They certainly do. To be fair, though, half the time the World IS going to end when he’s got one of those crises. “ She rolled her eyes a bit. “Or they go to that stage the moment he gets involved.” she laughed faintly. “So they do,” Thomas murmured, but he was less focused on the conversation now and more on the happy, fuzzy look in her eyes as she gazed up at him. It was nearly an invitation - close enough to one that his demon was taking note. Still in that casual, quiet tone, he said simply, “You need to go now." she went from fuzzy to sober in all of a second. Her lips pursed as she set her glass down and rose. She moved with purpose but not fast. Casually almost. "Damn fine whiskey Thomas but I think its time to call it a night, yeah?" She said quietly before wiggling her fingers at him. "Id hug you but I think that's a bit too much right now." She winked at him. " ALTHOUGH I think I'm not a good meal. " she smiled a (spelling) at him- she wondered if her love of his brother would save her. There hadn't been anyone since. But she moved to the door and opened it. "goodnight Thomas.” Thomas watched her go, his silver eyes paler than usual. He could have caught her before she reached the door, had her moaning in his arms before she knew what was happening. But he stayed where he was until the door had closed after her. Only then did he release the breath he’d been holding and allowed him to relax. Thanks to Justine’s love and care, he was getting better at regaining control of his demon. But Justine wasn’t here, and he didn’t have it under complete control yet. He was really going to have to watch himself so he didn’t get into trouble with the SHIELD folk. Dammit, Harry had better not have gone. |